Summer is a season for reading, for curiosity, and for the pleasure of discovery. Few books, then, could be more fitting for entering the fascinating world of high jewellery — even for those approaching the subject for the first time.

In a beautifully conceived volume published by Thames & Hudson in 2022, Julie Levoyer and Agnès Muckensturm bring together the history of Chanel High Jewellery, tracing its codes, inspirations and enduring allure.

We decided to place the book in the hands of young interns from the Bachelor’s Degree programme in Communication Sciences at the University of Palermo. The timing could not be more fitting: as Chanel names Marie-Laure Cérède the new director of its Jewellery Creation Studio, following the untimely passing of Patrice Leguéreau, the maison enters what looks set to be a new chapter in high jewellery creativity.  Here is what emerged:

In the most iconic jewellery collections from Chanel the lines through which the Maison has articulated its contemporary fine jewellery language: structured, symbolic, and defined by controlled elegance.

Across each line, Chanel refines a language built on restraint, graphic clarity, and emotional abstraction.

“Escale à Venise”

Few Chanel jewellery collections capture the spirit of Gabrielle Chanel as vividly as Escale à Venise. Presented in 2021, the High Jewelry collection pays tribute to Venice, a city that shaped Mademoiselle’s creative vision.

 

Inspired by Byzantine mosaics, the shimmering waters of the lagoon and the majestic Lion of Saint Mark, the collection transforms the beauty of La Serenissima into extraordinary jewels.

 

 

Escale à Venise is divided into four chapters that celebrate a different aspect of the city’s cultural heritage: Sérénissime, Gran Canale, Le Isole della Laguna and The Spirit of Venice.

 

 

Among its most remarkable creations is Constellation Astrale, a celestial masterpiece that combines deep blue lapis lazuli with radiant yellow sapphires, evoking the star-filled Venetian sky.

 

“Bijoux de Diamants”

While Escale à Venise reflects one of Gabrielle Chanel’s greatest sources of inspiration, Bijoux de Diamants marks the beginning of her jewellery legacy.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

Presented in 1932, the collection challenged the conventions of its time and introduced a radically modern vision of fine jewellery.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

More than a display of exceptional craftsmanship, Bijoux de Diamants reflected Chanel’s revolutionary approach to femininity. Designed without the rigid structures common at the time, the pieces offered women greater freedom and ease of movement.

 

“My jewelry never departs from the notion of the woman and her dress. My jewelry can be transformed because my dresses change.”

Gabrielle Chanel

 

 

Composed of approximately fifty creations in diamonds, platinum and yellow gold, the collection explored stars, comets, moons and suns. These celestial motifs would later become some of the House’s most enduring symbols.

 

Comète

Among those symbols for Gabrielle Chanel, stars represented luck, freedom and destiny. The Comète collection transforms that fascination into dazzling jewellery that appears to illuminate the body.

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

Radiant diamonds trace celestial paths across rings, necklaces and earrings, creating pieces that feel both timeless and contemporary.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

The necklace can also be worn as a belt, adjusted at the waist with its clasp.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

Today, Comète remains one of the most recognizable expressions of Chanel’s jewellery universe.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

“Plume de Chanel”

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

Light, graceful and effortlessly elegant, Plume de Chanel pays tribute to another motif deeply connected to Gabrielle Chanel’s creative vision: the feather.

 

 

A symbol of freedom and lightness, the feather has long been part of Chanel’s creative universe before inspiring an entire jewellery collection.

 

 

“If you’re born without wings, dont’t do anything to stop them growing”

Gabrielle Chanel

 

The collection showcases exceptional craftsmanship, with diamonds delicately set to recreate the softness and fluidity of a floating plume.

 

 

Rings, necklaces and earrings appear almost weightless, capturing a sense of motion.

 

“Collection N°5”

Beyond celestial motif and feathers, another symbol would come to define Chanel’s identity: the number 5.

 

“Number five, five, my lucky number!”

Gabrielle Chanel

 

Created in 1921, N°5 quickly became far more than a fragrance. With its modern composition, minimalist bottle and enigmatic name, it transformed the world of perfumery and established itself as one of the most enduring symbols of the House.

 

 

To celebrate its centenary, Chanel translated the legend of N°5 into the language of High Jewelry. The result was Collection N°5, a series of creations inspired by the perfume’s most recognizable codes, from the iconic bottle to the precious geometry of its stopper.

 

 

 

At the heart of the collection is the extraordinary 55.55 necklace. Inspired by the silhouette of the N°5 bottle. Its geometric design also recalls Place Vendôme, the historic epicentre of Parisian High Jewelry and a lasting source of inspiration for Chanel.

 

 

The collection’s poetic dimension is perhaps best expressed through the Golden Burst necklace, designed by Patrice Leguéreau.

 

Set with 54 imperial topazes in luminous golden hues, the creation captures the sensation of fragrance on the skin, transforming the warm, radiant aura of N°5 into an object of remarkable beauty.

 

 

 

With Collection N°5, Chanel accomplished something unprecedented: turning the world’s most iconic perfume into a High Jewelry masterpiece, where scent, symbolism and craftsmanship converge in perfect harmony.

 

Across her work we can see that her language was never static. It was designed to evolve with the women who wore it. This philosophy finds its most enduring expression in two of her most personal codes:

The camellia

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

A woman asked Chanel,
“What do you have for breakfast?”
“Madame,
I have a camellia
and in the evening I have an orchid.”

Gabrielle Chanel

 

This flower with is perfect symmetry and deliberate ambiguity, reflects her refusal of traditional definitions of femininity. Androgynous yet sensual, it embodies a beauty that exists outside convention.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Chanel

 

She turned it in a statement of independence, an invitation for women to define elegance on their own terms.

 

Tweed

 

It’s the same story but in a different form. Borrowed from the male wardrobe and reimagined for active, independent women, it became the foundation of her modern silhouette.

 

 

From it came the braided suit, one of her most enduring signatures and a radical rethinking of what women could wear and therefore how they could exist in the world.

 

Let the simplicity of an emotion prevail over technical complexity, let the jewel tell a new story of High Jewelry.

 

Together, camellia and tweed do not introduce a new idea; they confirm the essence of Gabrielle Chanel’s legacy. Not only a creator of objects, but a woman who reshaped the relationship between women and freedom itself.